


Everybody Loves Josie Saltzman

by silversash



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Angst, But maybe more of a love square?, F/F, Heartache, Hope is a mess, I'm Bad At Summaries, Landon's dead, Lots of Angst, Love Confessions, Love Triangles, Mutual Pining, Rating May Change, conflicted Josie
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2020-12-10
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:13:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27727949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silversash/pseuds/silversash
Summary: "Old crushes, new flings and exes - oh my"Following on from the events of Dark Josie and Landon's death, Josie tries to cope with being shut out by Hope while also navigating a new relationship with Jade. Cue one Penelope Park to make a dramatic return and confuse Josie's feelings even further.
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson & Lizzie Saltzman, Hope Mikaelson & Penelope Park, Hope Mikaelson/Josie Saltzman, Jade/Josie Saltzman, Josie Saltzman & Lizzie Saltzman, Milton "MG" Greasley/Lizzie Saltzman, Penelope Park/Josie Saltzman
Comments: 28
Kudos: 158





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Basically this is what I'd love to see go down in Season 3

Josie curls her fingers up into a fist, allowing her to rap lightly on the bedroom door before her. She knocks twice for good measure.

Cautiously, she takes a step back, hoping the door will open this time. Hoping the occupant will finally speak to her, after a whole month of being left in the dark.

The knock goes unanswered, just like the time before, and the time before that.

She should know how to deal with rejection by now, but something about this situation just doesn’t sit right with her at all. Knowing her best friend has no desire to see her, Josie can’t help but feel a heaviness in her heart.   
She bends down, taking the small ribbon-tied, wooden box that’s been tucked under her elbow and placing it on the ground outside the door. She hopes it won’t still be there when she passes the room again tomorrow morning.

She can feel the hot tears of disappointment and hurt prickling at her eyes and she knows she should walk away now, but she’s so desperate to reach out just one _last_ time.

  
“Hope,” she calls out, her voice beginning to crack under the strain of holding back her tears. “I know you’re hurting, and that you don’t want to see anybody right now. But I need you to know that I just want to be here for you, and I miss you. A lot. I promise I’ll leave you alone now, but please come back to us soon okay?”

She bites her lip and waits to hear some sort of response, but she’s met with a familiar silence.

That is, until she feels the touch of a comforting hand land on her shoulder.

  
“Hey Jose. I’ve been looking for you.”

Josie turns to find Jade standing behind her with an empathetic smile that warms her heart some. The blonde’s eyes are honed in on hers, concern etching into the vampire’s face when she realises Josie’s been crying.

“Hey,“ she pouts. “You okay?”  
Josie wipes the tears from her face with her palm as she nods. “I’m worried about her, it’s been a while you know.”

Hope had been back from New Orleans a whole month now, having spent another month there with her family after Landon’s funeral so she could grieve away from the school. Since returning to the school on her aunt’s advice, she hadn’t come to any classes nor made any effort to reach out to any of her friends. 

Josie was beginning to worry Hope was going to slip away from her, that their friendship would dissolve and they would go back to passing each other in the hallways without even acknowledging the other.

Jade slips her hand into Josie’s and interlocks their fingers. “People grieve in different ways babe, she just needs more time I guess. “

Josie shrugs her shoulders in defeat. “I guess so.”

Jade slings an arm over Josie, pulling her closer. “Hey, Wendy’s away for the weekend. How about you come back to my room and we watch some movies?”

Josie lights up at the idea of not having to spend the evening by herself. “That would be nice, thank you.”

Josie and Jade have been dating a few weeks now, if that’s what they’re calling it. Josie’s not really sure, they haven’t talked about it much but she guesses holding hands and cute picnics by the Old Mill followed by long make out sessions on Jade’s bed surely constitutes dating, right? 

Dating Jade is easy. It’s proved the perfect distraction from all the chaos that’s circled around Josie’s life the past year. 

When Josie first came back to school after the whole Dark Josie incident, she was immediately made feel like an outcast. She received glares from both upper and lower class men every time she entered a room, and heard nasty rumors circulating the school about things she had done whilst under the influence of black magic. And that’s not even mentioning Alyssa Chang’s warpath against her. 

But then within just a few days, Jade was jumping down the throat of any student who even dared to look at Josie the wrong way. Josie knows the vampire has probably been a bit over the top but Josie appreciates having someone there to protect her, especially now that she is without her powers. 

Josie’s been repaying her by educating on all the stuff she’s missed the past ten years - filling her in on world events, movies and tv shows that Jade was oblivious to while she was stuck in the prison world. 

People talk about Jade too. It’s not like two students could appear out of nowhere and no questions asked about where they came from. Like Josie, some of the older students had remembered the girls from all those years ago. The younger students however seem to be immune to hearing the stories that circulate about Jade and Wendy. Josie even found Jade teaching Pedro and his friends how to make a sling for a bird that fell out of a tree the other day.

One of the best things about dating Jade is that Lizzie actually seems to approve of her, which is a major change from Josie’s past relationships. Josie will admit there is still some awkwardness between her and her twin - especially considering she tried to kill her and everything - but Lizzie seems genuinely happy that Josie has someone like Jade to take care of her.

Of course Lizzie has been busy herself trying to figure out her and MG’s newest development in their relationship. Josie’s glad Lizzie has finally settled for a good guy.

Another thing about Jade is that she never knew Landon. Unlike the rest of her friends who can barely say his name without breaking down, Josie can talk to Jade about him. Jade will let Josie talk about Landon for as long as she needs to on the days she misses him most. Jose will tell Jade about how great a guy he was, and how everything feels different without him, all while the vampire runs her hands soothingly through Josie’s hair.

Josie thinks Landon would approve of Jade. She just hopes that Hope will too, whenever she gets to talk to her that is. She’s not sure why she’s so desperate for the tribrid’s approval, but Hope’s opinion just seems to matter a lot to her these days , sometimes even more so than Lizzie’s. 

Speaking of discussions yet to happen, she and Hope still need to talk about what happened in her subconscious. As much as she’s dreading the possible outcomes of the conversation, she needs to know how Hope feels about everything that happened - from Pig-Josie asking Hope to kiss her to Dark Witch Josie turning her into stone and trapping her like that for almost a week.

What if Hope hates her for everything she put her through in her mind? What if Hope blames her for Landon’s death? 

If Hope hadn’t had to dive deep into Josie subconscious maybe Landon would still be alive. Maybe Hope will never want to speak with her even again. Josie doesn’t know if she could blame her for that.

“Jose,” Jade nudges her side. “You’re overthinking again.”

Josie snaps out of her thoughts, finding herself once more cuddled into Jade on the vampire’s bed. The vampire’s long, slim fingers are dancing up the length of Josie’s arm.

“Sorry,” Josie mumbles, blushing over letting her thoughts get the better of her once again. Jade was going to think she was a lousy date if she didn’t start contributing. “I’m going to get some ice cream from the kitchen. You want anything else?”

Jade gives her a grin and shakes her head. “No, but make sure it’s chocolate?”

Josie nods and jumps off of the bed to head for the door.

“Oh and Jose?”

The brunette turns back around. “Yeah?”

“Don’t take too long!”

Excited for a relaxing night of Disney Movies and cuddles, Josie practically skips downstairs towards the kitchen. She decides she deserves one night off from her worries about Hope and the damage she caused as Dark Josie. A night off might give her the energy and optimism she needs to try and make everything right again.

It’s past curfew so naturally the kitchen is empty. Which means no awkward small talk or avoiding the harsh gazes of classmates who still see her as some evil temptress. She decides she needs to get in and out of here as quickly as she can. She doesn’t want to leave Jade waiting after the blonde has been so good to her today. She reaches into the cutlery drawer first, pulling out two spoons. Placing them on to the counter top, she turns her attention to the freezer in search of the real prize.

With summer approaching, the freezer is more packed than usual with frozen treats and tubs of ice cream. Josie needs to root around more than usual to find the flavor she’s looking for.She rummages her way through shelves, pulling out any irrelevant boxes out of her way and carelessly tossing them behind her. 

By the time she has her hands around a tub of chocolate ice cream that was hiding in the back corner of the bottom shelf, there are dozens of boxes of frozen food melting on the kitchen floor around her. She frantically begins to clean up and toss the boxes back into the freezer, when she hears a chuckle from behind.

“Well, well. What a sight for sore, jetlagged eyes. Does Daddy know you’re breaking curfew rules?”

Josie can pinpoint the exact moment her heart stops beating in her chest.  
Unable to speak or breathe, she slowly turns on her heels to face the familiar voice and take in the sight of the girl she hasn’t seen in over a year.

The ravenette stands against the island counter, leaning her elbows back on the marble surface. Still dressed in the tight and sinfully short navy uniform of her new Belgian boarding school, she greets Josie with her signature smirk.

Josie eventually manages to catch her breath. 

“ _Penelope_. What are you doing here?”

“Hey there Jojo. Did you miss me?”


	2. Chapter 2

Hope bites her lip as Josie knocks once more on her door. She wonders if today was the day she would face her. She can hear the brunette tap her foot before resigning with a deep sigh. Hope feels her chest tighten as Josie once more pleads for her to come out of her room, she can hear the tears that Josie’s fighting to hold back. 

Hope knows she’s being selfish. Yes she’s hurting, but she knows Josie is too. Hope doesn’t know how Josie could possibly be coping with everything she’s been through recently. 

Hope realises she’s being a bad friend and if she doesn’t get over herself and face Josie soon, she could lose the brunette altogether. And heaven knows, she doesn’t need to lose anybody else. She inhales deeply and takes the first step from her bed towards the door. She’s dreading the conversation, and the thought of trying to reign back in all the emotions that are bound to come flooding over her.

Despite her sincere best efforts to avoid everybody in the school since returning from New Orleans, Hope knows how the other students and even teachers look at her with pitiful frowns and concerned glances. Even Alaric has been more overwhelmingly overbearing than usual, encouraging Hope to open up. There's only one person she wants to open to, but what if all these pent up thoughts and feelings are too much for the brunette to deal with it on top of all her own problems.

Josie’s sweet lavender and vanilla scent overpowers her wolf senses as she draws closer to the door that separates them. As she reaches for the brass doorknob, she feels her heart plummet in her chest at the sound of a voice accompanying the brunette’s.

“Hey Jose.”

 _Jade._

The wolf inside of her silently growls at the thought of the older vampire claiming a stake on Josie with her nickname, but Hope is quick to scowl and dismiss her jealous thoughts. According to Lizzie, Jade makes Josie feel safe and happy. She’s a good distraction for her, and that’s more than Hope is going to be able to provide any time soon. 

Josie deserves to be happy. And so, Hope decides to stop in her tracks , allowing Josie to leave with Jade. She listens to the sounds of their chatter and their footsteps trailing back down the hallways. She waits for Josie’s scent to fade away, but it doesn’t completely. It lingers outside her door - the way it does each morning when Josie leaves breakfast out on a tray for her. So naturally she’s curious to inspect as to what Josie has left for her.

She listens carefully to try and detect any life outside her bedroom and when she hears none, she slowly opens her door ever so slightly. There’s a wooden box left outside at the foot of her door, wrapped up with a bright red ribbon and a cream colored gift label that had her name written on it in gold glitter. 

Hearing some faint footsteps heading her way, she quickly snatches up the box and pulls herself back inside, slamming the door behind her.

Once back in the safe confines of her bed, she does her best to lift the lid off and peel back the layer of crepe paper underneath as gently as she can. Her eyes instantly widen at the colorful sights before her - a brand new set of oil paints and brushes. It’s been a long time since she’s painted, or felt the desire to.

As she unpacks the different colored tubes of paint one by one, she notices another gift underneath them - a small, grey, soft stuffed animal. A _wolf_. Although she rolls her eyes as she takes into her hands, she can’t hide the smirk on her face as she laughs internally at Josie's humor.

Placing the toy down on her pillow beside her, she flips the gift label over to read the message written in cursive on the other side;

_Just because you want to be alone, doesn’t mean you have to be lonely._

_I thought you might like a friend to cuddle._

_Love, Jo._

She hasn’t cried in a whole week now - an accomplishment she’d been pretty proud of, but now she finds her vision blurred by the thick, hot tears pricking her eyes.

Not only does the gift serve as a reminder of how selflessly thoughtful Josie Saltzman ever proves to be, but proves that Josie hasn’t given up on her. 

Now it’s time for Hope to prove that she hasn’t given up on Josie either.

* * *

  
  


There’s ice cream dripping down Josie’s hand, creating a small, sticky, chocolaty puddle on the floor right beside her fluffy pink slippers. 

“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming Pen?” Josie asks with a pouty face so cute Penelope can barely resist the urge to kiss it away. She forces herself to look at the tiled floor before the brunette catches on to her staring. 

“Because I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to get on that plane.” She honestly answers with a shrug.  
Josie looks even more perplexed than before. She takes a careful step closer to the ravenette. “Why did you come?”

Before Josie can even attempt to get her melted ice cream mess on Penelope’s designer, leather shoes, Penelope grabs the carton from her hand and chucks it into the nearest trash can. She tries to contain her laughter as Josie turns beet red with embarrassment.

“It’s kind of a long story,” Penelope sighs as Josie scurries over to the sink to clean her sticky hands. She’s hoping Josie will get the hint to drop the subject for the time being. “You know, this isn’t exactly the reaction I was expecting . I thought you'd be more pleased to see me. I thought we were friends again.”

Josie looks up, turning off the faucet. “Penelope-”

“I haven’t heard from you in weeks Josie. Why did you stop replying to me?” 

Josie fixes her gaze downwards, a subtle blush starts to creep across her cheeks. “I’m sorry. I’ve just been a bit preoccupied.”

Penelope quirks an eyebrow at this and Josie shivers under the sly grin that stretches across the ravenette as she steps closer and closer towards her. Within seconds, Josie finds herself trapped - with her back against the kitchen counter and Penelope’s body pressed into her front. Their hip bones are pressed together and Penelope has managed to wrap one hand around Josie’s wrist, while the other hand makes its way upwards to brush a wild strand out of Josie’s face.

“Is that so?” Penelope practically purrs. “Well if you need a distraction Jojo, I’m more than happy to help you out.”

She promised herself she’d try harder this time, but now being in Josie’s presence she just can’t help herself. In the year she’s been away, the brunette has only managed to grow more alluring. Penelope knows the girl has had a wild past few months, but she can’t help but notice how much more assertive and sure of herself Josie has become since she saw her last.

Boldly, Penelope presses her forehead against Josie’s and her eyes instantly fix themself on Josie's shiny, pillowy lips. She hears the siphoner’s breathing becoming erratic. She relishes in the feeling of the adrenaline that begins to course through her veins - she had forgotten the thrills she got everytime Josie turned into a hot mess under her touch. Josie’s bottom lip is trembling now and Penelope can no longer resist. She leans closer, and closer until she’s just a breath away. Her lips are pursed, ready to meet plump, pink ones -

“Pen,” Josie gasps, breathlessly. She pushes the ravenette away, freeing herself from her grasp. “I’m sorry but I can’t-”

Penelope tries to hide her disappointment with a condescending smile. “Oh come on JoJo. Aren’t we a little too old to still be playing these games?”

“Penelope,” Josie scowls, crossing her arms and Penelope throws her arms up in surrender.

“Okay I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she chuckles. “It’s really good to see you Josie, seriously. I’ve missed you a lot. There’s so much I’ve needed to talk to you about.”

Concern momentarily etches into the brunette’s face.“What’s the _real_ reason you came back here Penelope? And please don’t tell me it was just to try and flirt with me.”

Penelope lets out a deep sigh before perching herself up onto the kitchen island. “My dad passed away two months ago, Jo. I should have told you, I know, but you were going through your own stuff at the time. He was sick for a while but I was so busy in school and trying to pretend he would get better that I didn’t get to spend time with him before he passed.” She hears the brunette let out a gasp, and no doubt she’s ready to offer her comforts and condolences which Penelope will accept later but for now she needs to keep going. Because if she doesn’t get this off her chest now, she’s afraid she never will.

“It got me thinking Jo, I shouldn’t have run away from you when I found out about the Merge. Whether or not you’re going to sacrifice yourself for your sister in five years time, I want to spend as much time with you as I can.”

She allows herself to face the siphoner once more. The brunette’s eyes are already glazed over with tears. Her brow is furrowed, she’s concentrating hard on how best to reply. It’s not the look of pure elation or puppy love that Penelope had foolishly been wishing for when she had planned on how she was going to try and win Josie back.

“I know I messed up Josie, and that I hurt you. And I have spent every day since regretting it. I promise I will never hurt you again.”

“Pen,” Josie sighs deeply after a minute, taking the ravenette’s hands and intertwining their fingers. “It’s not that simple.”

Penelope shakes her head. “Look Jo, I know you probably don’t feel I deserve a second chance, but -”

_“Hey Jose, you in there?”_

Penelope’s head whips around to inspect whoever’s just so rudely interrupted her. A vaguely familiar vampire with untamed blonde curls stands at the door, her eyes fixed solely on Josie who is still standing between Penelope’s legs, holding on to her hand. 

“Oh sorry,” the vampire mumbles, tonelessly. “You were gone from my room so long I came to check if everything was okay.”

Josie lets go of Penelope’s hand and straightens herself up before replying to the vampire with an awkward clearing of her throat. “Oh, ehm,sorry. This is my-, I mean this is Penelope. She used to go here, she’s visiting from Belgium.”

“Actually, I was kinda thinking of coming back to school here,” Penelope awkwardly informs her. When Josie looks back at her with a furrowed brow, Penelope is quick to dismiss her with a shake of her head - indicating that this conversation can be had at a later stage when the two of them are alone. 

Right now, Penelope wants to turn her attention to the vampire standing in the doorway so she can properly inspect the intruder in the provocatively short, black satin pajamas. “So, who are you?”

“Penelope, this is Jade.”

“Hi,” the vampire greets with a cautious smile. 

Penelope frowns momentarily, she tests the girl’s name out on her tongue while racking her brain to find the significance behind it. Her eyes go wide and she flips back around to Josie.

“ _Jade?_ As in Jade that you had a crush on ten years ago but then she just disappeared?”

Josie doesn’t respond but the increasing redness of her face answers the questions for her. It doesn’t, however, answer the question as to what Josie was doing hanging out in this vampire’s room after curfew. 

When the preposterous conclusion enters her mind, Penelope barks out a dry laugh, “So what, she’s come back as a teacher or something? Wow Jojo, I know you’ve always been a bit of a teacher’s pet, but this is really something else.”  
She tries to swallow the sour taste of disgust in her throat.

“Penelope, stop it!” Josie snaps, while Jade lets out a soft chuckle behind her. “It’s not like that.”

Penelope’s own expression falters as she watches Jade saunter over to Josie. She wraps an arm over the younger girl’s shoulder, as if Josie is some _possession_ of hers, and presses a lingering kiss on her cheek as she glances up at Penelope with a devilish glint in her eye.

“So, I take it you’re the ex?” 

Penelope instantly decides she doesn’t like anything about this girl.

There’s a smirk planted on Jade’s face. Penelope responds with a mirroring one.  
“Yeah, we’ll see about that.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies in advance ,this chapter doesn't have much Josie content - much like the Season 3 trailer :)))))))))))))))))))))))))

Lizzie groans in frustration as she hears a knock on the door. She rips her eye mask off her face and slides out of the comfort of her bed.

She’s had the craziest last two months, as yes she’s aware that’s not exclusive to her, but between being killed by her own twin, sucking dangerously strong black magic out of said twin and dealing with all the drama, tension and heartache that has ensued since the Necromancer showed up - the least she deserves is a decent night’s rest.

“Whoever this is, you better have a damn good reason for disturbing me from my sleep!” She roars, bounding towards the door. 

Outside, Hope is standing in pyjama bottoms and a dark hoodie, staring up at her with an awkward smile. Lizzie rolls her eyes and grabs the girl by the wrist, yanking her inside the bedroom before slamming the door behind them.

In truth, she had been half hoping the girl might show up and see her sometime soon. Considering the girl doesn’t show up for meals or classes or even appear outside for fresh air, Hope’s spontaneous and completely unpredictable late night visits are the only way Lizzie can be sure the other girl is still surviving. Lizzie finds herself worrying about the aubrenette , almost as much as she knows Josie does, but that doesn’t mean she’s going to go easy on her for waking her up from her slumber.

“Well, look who finally retreated from her bear cave,” The blonde snarks before retreating to sit on the end of her bed.

Hope sheepishly stumbles behind her but chooses to sit on Josie’s bed instead. The brunette’s familiar, comforting scent quickly overwhelms her senses and she feels the muscles in her shoulders relax.

“If you’re here to finally see my sister, I’m afraid you just missed her.”

Hope shakes her head. “No, I know that. She came by my room.”  
“So did you talk to her?” Lizzie questions, hopefully.

“No, not exactly.”

Lizzie lets out a dramatic sigh of exasperation. “Come on Hope! I really don’t understand you. You sneak in here to talk with me about how much you miss Josie, instead of actually just going to talk to her. And she’s made it very clear several times now that she wants to talk to you.”  
  


“It’s not that simple Lizzie,” Hope huffs. 

“Why not? What could possibly have happened in her subconscious that you can’t bring yourself to talk about?”

“It doesn’t matter!” Hope accidentally snaps. Lizzie’s brows kit together, unimpressed and Hope mutters an apology. 

“Look, I get that it’s personal or whatever, but just know that I don’t appreciate that both you and Josie are keeping secrets from me. Especially when you’re coming to me whining about your problems!”

“I’m sorry Lizzie,” Hope sighs “I just don’t want to be the poor, grieving best friend that Josie feels the need to comfort and fix. I don’t want to burden her with my emotions. You said she’s been happy, I don’t want to ruin that for her.”

“I also told you she’d be a lot happier if she didn’t feel like you were shutting her out!”

Hope fidgets with her hands.

“Well I guess that’s kinda the reason I’m here. I want to make it up to her somehow. She left a gift at my door tonight. It was really thoughtful.”

This is news to Lizzie, but then again Josie doesn’t tell her everything anymore - not the way she used to. Not since the whole forced Merge thing.

Which Lizzie has _totally_ gotten over by the well - or at least, she would be if Josie could just sit down and talk with her about what happened rather than constantly apologize about it.

“I want to get her something in return,” Hope is still talking. Lizzie supposes she should be listening. “As a thank you I guess, but also maybe as an apology for ignoring her.”

“And are you going to present this gift in person? Or are you expecting to continue top toeing around seeing each other for the rest of the year?” Lizzie snarkily replies. Her patience for both her visitor and the situation at hand was beginning to frustrate her, she just wants to sleep. 

Hope frowns, slightly dumbstruck, she clearly hasn’t put much thought into this plan. Lizzie puts a not so subtle hand on her back and begins to guide her back towards the door of the bedroom. 

“Just talk to her Hope. I promise you that she will appreciate honesty more than any gifts - no matter how magical or expensive they may be.”

“Okay,” Hope nods solemnly as Lizzie turns the doorknob. “I’ll find her tomorrow.”

“Great,” Lizzie smiles thinly. “Goodnight Hope.”

The tribrid steps out into the hallway but gives a quick glance back to her friend. “Hey Lizzie? Don’t let her know I was here, okay?”

Lizzie closes the door with a sigh. “I never do.”

To Lizzie’s surprise, Josie returns to their room late that night, waking Lizzie up despite her best effort to close the door as quietly as possibly. Lizzie has already been asleep for two hours , not having stayed up for her sister because she assumed Jo would stay at Jade’s.

She can barely open her eyes but she knows there’s something wrong with Josie. There’s a gnawing in her stomach which tells her Josie is upset or anxious about something, or _someone._ However she can also sense Josie isn’t in the mood to talk about it right now either. 

Josie’s never really in the mood to talk about her problems much these days. She tries to bottle everything up, and Lizzie knows it's because Josie still feels guilty about what happened two months ago. Josie feels like she’s a burden and doesn’t want to cause any more trouble, but Lizzie desperately wants to be able to communicate with her twin the way they were always able to.

She closes her eyes again as she feels her mattress dip under Josie’s weight, and Josie cuddles herself into Lizzie’s side. Her skin is warm and comforting, and Lizzie can't help but pull her twin closer to her. Josie hums softly in response.

This is the first time they’ve shared a bed again since the whole Merge fiasco Lizzie realizes as she feels herself slipping back into her deep sleep. The thought puts a smile on her face, and she promises herself to make sure to ask Josie what’s bothering her in the morning.

When she wakes in the morning, Josie is nowhere to be seen.

* * *

MG almost chokes on his bagel at breakfast the next morning when he catches sight of who is bounding over towards his table in the cafeteria.

“Peez?”

“Hello old friend,” the ravenette bids with a smile and takes a seat opposite him at the table.

“What are you doing here?”

Penelope gives him a shrug as she steals a strawberry from his plate. “Belgium was getting boring. So, I decided I would check up on my favourite vampire.”

MG looks at her pointedly. “And you couldn’t have just picked up the phone to do that? I hope you at least let Josie know you were coming.”

This seems to hit a nerve. Penelope winces slightly. “No actually I thought I’d surprise her, but that kind of backfired last night.”

MG scratches his head. Honestly with everything that’s been going on in Josie’s life recently, Penelope’s showing up might not be at the best timing. He tries to glance around the cafeteria not too obviously in search of her blonde twin who should be joining him soon , and will undoubtedly be even less impressed to learn that Penelope Park has returned to the Salvatore School.

“So, who is this Jade girl? What’s her deal and why is preying on Josie?”

Straight to the point as usual, MG has to give it to Penelope, the girl is consistent.

“Honestly, I don’t know her that well but she seems cool and she treats Josie pretty good and honestly, Jo really needs that right now. Things haven’t been exactly easy for her since the whole “Dark Josie” thing.”

Penelope gives him an amused look. “Dark Josie? Is that what you’ve all been calling her?”

He shrugs, “Well, we needed some way to distinguish that she wasn't the real Josie. But people have still been giving her a hard time. Alyssa Chang, mostly.”

“Ugh, what a basic witch,” Penelope grunts. “I doubt anyone even missed her.”  
“Pen you can’t say stuff like that,” MG frowns, scrunching his eyebrows together. “That girl is serious about revenge these days. I would try not to cross her if I was you. The only reason she hasn't set Josie on fire yet is because Jade's best friend Wendy is friends with Alyssa and keeps an eye on her."

Penelope stares at him dumbly. "Wendy?"

"Yeah she's a pyro witch that Josie apparently used to be fascinated with. She and Alyssa were sort of roommates down at the Old Mill after Jade and Wendy got out of the prison world."

Penelope chokes on her own breath and begins coughing loudly enough to gather attraction of a number of students sitting at the surrounding tables. MG slides her a glass of water and she graciously accepts it.

“Wait," she raspily pants once she manages to contain herself, eyes narrowed. "What do you mean by when Jade got out of the _prison world_? You mean the same one Alyssa sent the Saltzman twins to?”

“The very same,” MG nods and takes a bite out of his bagel, continuing to talk while he chews. “You remember those kids from Mystic Falls that were murdered out in the woods ten years ago?”

MG regrets his words the second Penelope’s jaw drops open in disdain. “She was responsible for that? You mean to tell me that you have all been letting Josie frolic around with a _murderer_?”

It comes apparent too late that Josie for some reason had decided to omit this information in her recent letters to Penelope. 

“Woah Peez, calm down.” MG tries to brush it off. “She’s not like that anymore, she couldn’t help it at the time - I mean, she was a new vampire and a ripper. Like me. But Josie turned her humanity back on and now she’s totally better!”

Unsurprisingly the word ripper doesn’t seem to provide any solace to Penelope, her knuckles are turning white from how tightly she’s clenching her fists. The girl is setting and MG needs to find some way to diffuse the situation - quickly.

“MG, are you going to explain to me as to why the _hell_ I’m seeing Satan Reincarnate sitting at our lunch table?”

_Oh no._

Lizzie’s voice is shrill as she comes storming over, a paper cup of coffee in hand. MG’s afraid if she clenches it any tighter, the hot contents will explode all over him. 

He wants to be anywhere but here right now. 

“Oh hey Lizzie Bear,” Penelope gives her best shit eating grin as she eyes the blonde up and down. “Missed you too.”

She reverts her gaze back to MG as Lizzie takes a seat right beside him. MG can practically feel the waves of anger radiating from the siphoner. He grabs her hand in attempt to calm her but only ends up wincing when Lizzie uses him as a human stress ball and squeezes his fingers way too tightly.

“So I heard you finally grew a pair of balls and asked her out,” Penelope grins, a little too widely to be genuine. “Congrats Milton, proud of you. Even if you do have a clearly _awful_ taste in women.” 

If looks could kill, Penelope would be a sitting duck.  
“Please tell me that you’re nothing more than an illusion,” Lizzie hisses. “MG, is that nightmare monster that haunts everyone’s dreams back again?” 

"Oh Liz, I'm as real as they come, but come to think of it - maybe you are slightly delusional, considering the company I hear you're allowing your dear sister to keep these days."

Lizzie' clenches her jaw as she turns to face Penelope dead on."What are you talking about Park?"

"MG here has just filled me in about Jade and her _wonderful_ attributes. I know you've always been pretty inattentive when it comes to Josie, but seriously Lizzie - a _killer?_ "

Feeling Lizzie's blue eyes now burning into the back of his head, MG sinks further into his seat and decides not to partake in this conversation any longer. There's a bang of a fist against the wooden table, he has to assume it was the blonde's.  
"My sister's personal life has nothing got to do with you anymore Park, and if you've come back here just to mess with her, I swear to Gods I'll make you regret it! " 

Penelope simply rolls her eyes at the threat. Instead of rebutting, she chooses to dismiss herself from the table, standing up from her chair and directing one last remark at Lizzie. “Well as much fun as this has been, Evil Barbie, I need to go speak with your sister.”

“You stay the hell away from her!” Lizzie shrieks, rising from the table just as quickly to chase after the ravenette who’s practically skipping out of the cafeteria, flipping her hair over her shoulder as she does.

MG gives a regretful glance down at his barely eaten food, he guesses breakfast will have to wait until later.

For now, he needs to save the school from two feuding witches.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eeeeeekkkk I'm sorry, I'm not that happy with this chapter.  
> It's way more dialogue than I wanted and I want to tidy it up but I really really felt the need to update this story before the new Landon based trailer crushed my dreams of a Josie/Hope/Penelope/Jade story line any further.
> 
> I have the next chapter - which is all from Josie's perspective - almost ready to go so I needed to post this chapter so I could finish editing it.
> 
> In the meantime, I have two questions I would appreciate your help with;  
> 1) Fellow writers - what do you use to write your drafts? I've been using Google Drive but it's just such a nightmare trying to edit the format when I transfer it over to Ao3?
> 
> 2) Unrelated to this story, but can someone explain to me why when Hope astral projected into the Prison World, only Josie could see her?
> 
> please let me know what you're thinking about the story so far, I know this chapter is bad but I promise it will get better!!


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